Councillors criticise trend ‘at a time when almost one in 50 Londoners is homeless’Short-term lettings through Airbnb and other online platforms are “growing out of control” in London with up to one in 50 of all homes now estimated to be available, town hall bosses have claimed.The spread of short term lets is encouraging antisocial behaviour and criminality with residents increasingly complaining about them being used as party houses and for prostitution and drug dealing, councils in the capital said. They believe it is pushing up rents and reducing the availability of homes for the rising number of households who are temporarily homeless, which in England hit 56,280 last year – the highest level since 2010. Continue reading...

Labour-led government has pledged $100m to keep 1,200 motel rooms available for the homeless for a...

Labour-led government has pledged $100m to keep 1,200 motel rooms available for the homeless for a year but obstacles to cementing gains remainCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt was an unexpected outcome of the strict lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 in New Zealand: after one month rough sleeping appeared to have been all but eliminated in the country. Advocates said it was the closest New Zealand had come in modern times to ensuring everyone had shelter, with only “a handful” of people living on streets in the country.“People who have never been housed are now temporarily in housing,” said Chris Farrelly, the chief executive of Auckland City Mission, a social services charity in New Zealand’s largest city. “They’re saying to us, which they’ve never said before, ‘Please, can you keep me in this place?’” Continue reading...

Exclusive: homelessness surge blamed for rising number of crushing deaths and injuries‘The blade was coming towards...

Exclusive: homelessness surge blamed for rising number of crushing deaths and injuries‘The blade was coming towards him’: how bins pose lethal riskRough sleepers are sheltering in bins all year round, with surging homelessness in the UK blamed for a rising number of deaths by crushing and near-misses while containers are being emptied, a waste industry report has found.Homelessness charities and waste industry officials are calling for action to prevent “terrible fatalities”, after incidents in which vulnerable people sleeping in waste containers have died after being accidentally tipped into bin lorries. Continue reading...